Jonathan Biss opens EIF Queen's Hall series

Young American talent will bring passion to EIF launch

Whether volunteering for Barack Obama in the Primaries or traversing the globe with his intimate piano recitals, the young Jonathan Biss has long proved he’s no run-of-the-mill talent. Light on pomp and heavy in enthusiasm, the Indiana-raised pianist opens this year’s Queen’s Hall Series for the EIF.For the 30-year-old Biss, the programme boasts a perfect mix of light and dark, highs and lows. Leon Kirchner’s ‘Five Pieces’ will begin proceedings before Schumann’s ‘Kreisleriana’ and Mozart’s ever-wonderful ‘Adagio’ in B minor. Beethoven’s fiery Piano Sonata in F minor Op 57 ‘Appassionata’ will bring the concert to a close.

‘It’s about creating a journey for the audience with the pieces you choose and the order you play them,’ explains Biss with a smile, tired but happy after a recital in New York. ‘There’s something so very personal about playing alone on a stage, and feeling the response from an audience. People feel when you’re engaged [as a musician]; that creates a connection. We’re all sitting hearing the same thing, but with truly great works like these, it can mean something absolutely different to everyone.’